Villa Bergman – Werntoft

Villa Bergman-Werntoft is located in the heart of Ljungskogen, a major part of Ljunghusen in the municipality of Vellinge in the south of Sweden. The ground in Ljunghusen is sandy, and the flat terrain is characteristically covered with pine trees interspersed with a variety of leaf trees. The building site has no vistas into the surrounding landscape.

The shape of the building stems from the traditional Scanian-Danish atrium building and has an outer wall of masonry and a predominantly glazed inner wall. The northern wing comprises private spaces, such as bedrooms and bathrooms, while the social spaces are gathered in the eastern wing. The house is pierced by light-shafts and sight lines that provide ample play for the eye as one moves through the sequence of spaces.

Inside and out, folds break up the façade, where doors and windows are situated flush along the outer wall. The folding of the walls defines both spaces and helps frame the view of the surrounding landscape, as well as creating an inner life within the realm of the building itself.

On the inside, in the courtyard, the folds build up a relationship between the two wings of the building as well as defining sight lines that provide views into the garden. In this way, the residential space expands out into the courtyard.

From the client’s side, there was an explicit desire to invite the natural landscape into the building and to blur the distinction of inside vs. outside. A year-round winter garden opens up on two sides, with sliding sections discreetly obfuscating any difference between interior and exterior, an illusion enhanced by the usage of identical heights on the floors inside and outside.

The building is constructed using a steel-reinforced timber frame on a concrete slab foundation. The roof is constructed from glue-lam beams that are reduced where the roof projects in order to provide a slender profile. The block works in the façade are rendered aerated concrete blocks with a coat of black paint. The wooden parts of the façade are planed Siberian Larch panels.

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Site: Mossvägen 3, Ljunghusen

Construction: 2005-2006

Chief Architect: Johan Sundberg

Associate Architect: Laine Montelin, Tyréns

Structural Engineer: Mathias Bergman

Awards: Nominated for the Swedish magazine Arkitektur’s Debut Award in 2007.

Photography: Peo Olsson (www.peoolsson.se)